My sister's boyfriend goes shooting with my dad and I every once in a while. Well, the last time, I didn't go. So Dad, Mom, , my sister, and the boyfriend all went trap shooting. Well what happened was, as the boyfriend was shuttling a shell from the box to his shotgun, he dropped it. And beside one of the station pads, there is gravel. Well, that shell landed perfectly on the point of a rock...and discharged. It apparently shot straight up a few inches off his leg. Not a single shot hit him, but he said he felt something hit him (must have been powder). Thinking back, I have no idea how he was not hit, but thank goodness he wasn't. This was my closest to an AD, and hopefully will always be my only experience.

So all you clay shooters out there, get a grip on that shell! Be careful, and never get too comfortable with ammunition.

Hueco

Gunslinger

July 11, 2000, 10:56 AM

Weird. I would have never thought of a shotgun shell discharging in such a manner. The odds are probably one a million but that one millionth time could be intense. :eek:
Thanks for sharing that Hueco.

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Gunslinger

James K

July 11, 2000, 01:33 PM

This can also happen with heavy center fire rounds. It is unlikely with rimfires simply because they are too light to be dented by dropping. Fortunately, there is so little confinement that the bullet or shot charge has little pressure or energy and there is seldom any injury involved. The "worst case" is usually that the case or shell bursts and burning powder plus wads or shot might cause a slight burn or bruise.

But note that if there is confinement of the charge at all, the danger increases. I have seen this happen when the shooter of a black powder revolver loaded and capped a spare cylinder and laid it on the bench. It rolled off and landed on a cap, firing the bullet from what was, essentially, a short barrel pistol. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the bullet made a hole in the bottom of the shooting bench.

Jim

Hueco

July 11, 2000, 05:54 PM

I meant to post this in the shotgun forum. :o But since it's here... The hull was bulged out about half way down. My dad came in and handed it to me before telling me what happened. My first thought was that he put it in his 12 ga. (it was a 20 ga shell). He told me that wasn't it. So then I thought it somehow fired halfway in/out of the chamber (stovepipe?). No...not that either. Looking at the primer, it's obvious it hit a rock. A very large, shallow bumpy mark on it. No sign of primer back out though, a testament to just how light target loads are. I am sure if it had been a cheap hull it would've burst, but this was an STS. Dern thing didn't even crack. It's probably a very good thing it was an STS as hull-shrapnel could've hurt a lot.

Perhaps the Moderator could kindly re-post this in the shotgun forum. I apologise for the mispost. Thank you!

Hueco

Sisco

July 11, 2000, 10:38 PM

I was in the Exchange at the Navy base in Subic Bay Phillipines in '77 or '78 when we heard a loud bang and a Marine came running out of the bathroom yelling for an ambulance. Turns out a friend of his was tossing a 12ga round in the air and catching it when he missed and it hit the floor and discharged. Unfornate fellow was hit in the abnomen but it was my understanding that he recovered.